SUSTAINABILITY SHOW & TELL FESTIVAL BUNBURY, OCTOBER 2010

REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Marilyn Palmer, BSW, MA, PhD Francis Steele, BSc(Hons), M.Phil, Dip. Ed, M.Ed(Hons), PhD Sandra Wooltorton, Dip Teach, B.Ed, M.Ed (Hons), PhD November 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... 3 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 4 THE SUSTAINABILITY SHOW & TELL FESTIVAL .......................................................... 5 Background ................................................................................................................................ 5 Reviewing the event ................................................................................................................... 6 Reviewing the organisation of the event .................................................................................... 8 THE FESTIVAL IMPACT ...................................................................................................... 11 Sustainability Education .......................................................................................................... 11 Community Development ........................................................................................................ 12 Pro-environmental Behaviour Change ..................................................................................... 13 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................... 14 LIST OF APPENDICES .......................................................................................................... 15 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 23 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... 24 RESEARCHERS’ NOTES ...................................................................................................... 24

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This evaluation project was conducted under the auspice of the Centre for Sustainable Regional Futures (CSRF), a research centre located within the Faculty of Regional Professional Studies (FRPS) at Edith Cowan University (ECU). The purpose of the study was to review the planning, operation and impact of the Sustainability Show and Tell Festival held on the ECU Bunbury campus on 31 October 2010. The Festival was the result of collaboration between the CSRF and FRPS at ECU, Hotrock 1 and Transition Bunbury 2. This report provides some background to the Festival (in particular the idea to showcase school based education for sustainability activities); reviews the Festival event and the organisation of the Festival; describes the outputs of the Festival and makes some recommendations. The intended audiences for this report are the potential stakeholders in any future festival such as funding bodies, auspicing groups, likely host venues, organisers, exhibitors and volunteers. The findings from the study indicate that:  authorisation, adequate levels of funding and auspicing of the project need to be established early to allow for adequate and coherent planning;  the idea of focussing the festival around showcasing the activities of schools has merit;  festival attendees valued the opportunity to:  share information and ideas;  receive new information and ideas (especially about new technologies);  network and socialise; and  be reassured that there are other people in their community interested in sustainability. Festival attendees and organisers recognised the need for improved advertising and signage for the event. A number of respondents also commented that they would like to see more workshops and ‘hands-on things to do’ at any future festival. In summary, this study demonstrated that a Sustainability Show and Tell Festival is a successful strategy for raising awareness in the community about the threats to the environment and for showcasing strategies which can be used to transition towards sustainability. It also has the potential to be a visible manifestation of the community’s interest and commitment to sustainability which in itself may encourage, energise and empower people to adopt some pro-environmental behaviours.

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Hotrock is a private philanthropic organisation which funds sustainability education projects (eg. food gardens) in educational institutions, mainly (but not exclusively) schools in Western Australia. 2 Transition Bunbury is a community sustainability project, linked to the international Transition Town movement (Hopkins, 2008), which aims to identify and implement community based initiatives to address the problems of peak oil, climate change and economic volatility.

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INTRODUCTION In October 2010, the Faculty of Regional Professional Studies (FRPS) of Edith Cowan University (ECU) hosted a Sustainability Show and Tell Festival (Festival) on the Bunbury campus in partnership with Hotrock and the Transition Bunbury Co-ordinating Committee (Transition Bunbury). Hotrock was already in a partnership with ECU, co-funding an action research project on the campus, Transition to Sustainability: ECU South West (Transition ECUSW). The principal researchers were Sandra Wooltorton and Marilyn Palmer, and Fran Steele was employed as a research assistant. Transition ECUSW had been designed to explore the ways in which a small regional university campus could transition its curriculum, teaching and learning processes towards sustainability (Wooltorton, Palmer, Goodwin, & Paine, 2010; Wooltorton, Palmer, & Steele, 2011). One aspect of the action research design involved the researchers actively facilitating and supporting a community engagement initiative which became known as Transition Bunbury (using the work of Hopkins, 2008). The idea of the Festival grew out of Transition Bunbury working with the Twelve Steps of Transition (Hopkins, 2008, p. 151). Step Two is awareness raising and the Festival was seen as a way of raising awareness in the community of: • the key threats to sustainability (climate change, peak oil and economic volatility) (Kunstler, 2005), and • some positive initiatives which can be used to respond to these threats (such as localism, recycling, reduced reliance on fossil fuels, water conservation). Another of the Twelve Steps is to develop visible and practical manifestations of transition, whereby the project creates “high visibility signals that it means business” (Hopkins, 2008, p. 165). The Festival was seen as one of these manifestations which would bring school communities, ECU staff and students, and members of the local community together, so they could share ideas and affirm that the Transition Bunbury project was under way. Hotrock was approached for an additional sum of money to cover most of the costs of the Festival, in particular payment for a Festival Organiser. ECU’s in-kind contribution to the Festival was the venue, printing, an office for the Festival Organiser (with access to phone, email and internet) and the labour of the two principal researchers of the funded research project Transition ECUSW. (See Appendix A for a copy of the original proposal.) Referring to the work of Purdue, Durrschmidt, Jowers and O’Doherty (1997), Mikkola and Roos (2010) describe festivals as “collective events that can be understood as arenas for social and informal learning and opportunities to experiment with pleasure and meaning (p. 29). The purpose of the Festival was to create such a space, particularly for members of school communities (students, teachers and parents) to showcase their activities and initiatives in relation to sustainability. (See Appendix B for the Festival program.) The definition of sustainability remained open-ended and flexible for the Festival organising groups in line with the findings from the Transition ECUSW project which had intentionally avoided foreclosing on a definition (Wooltorton et al., 2010). However, sustainability was generally taken to mean an approach to living which can reasonably be expected to address the threats to our local community (and to the wider society) brought about by climate change, peak oil and economic volatility. There was also a tacit agreement amongst the

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Festival organisers that the idea of intergenerational equity is embedded within any working definition of sustainability, an idea expressed in the Brundtland World Commission on Environment and Development’s report Our Common Future (1990, p. 84). 3 This report describes and analyses the Festival held at ECU in October 2010, using four sources of data: Transition Bunbury minutes from 2010; the reflective notes of the Festival organiser Fran Steele; results from a survey of Festival attendees; and notes from a Transition Bunbury Working Party set up in 2011 to identify ways forward. The survey, which had ECU ethics approval, was conducted using an opportunistic sampling procedure and was administered by ECU staff and students and community volunteers, several of whom also assisted with the data analysis. The data from the survey is presented in Appendix C. This report frames the findings in the context of current theorising on sustainability education and sustainability events, and makes recommendations for the future.

THE SUSTAINABILITY SHOW & TELL FESTIVAL Judith Mair (2011) has proposed a typology for environmentally sustainable events: • events that focus on encouraging sustainable lifestyles; • events for other purposes that ‘add on’ sustainability; • events that are held in a ‘green’ location; and • those which use ‘cosmetic greening’ or ‘greenwashing’. The Sustainability Show and Tell Festival held in Bunbury corresponds with Mair’s (2011) first category; that is, it was an event held for the purpose of educating and encouraging people to adopt sustainability enhancing behaviours. The Festival was a non-formal sustainability education event aimed at all members of the community, not just those formally enrolled in educational institutions which are the usual focus of government sustainability education initiatives. 4 BACKGROUND The idea of a festival was first proposed to Transition Bunbury in March 2010 by Dr Sandra Wooltorton from the Education Program at ECU, initially as a Sustainable September Expo 5 activity. A lunch time sustainability education event (SustainFest) was run on the campus in April as part of the teaching and learning process for Society and Environment in the Middle Years, a second year education unit. During April, Transition Bunbury developed the idea of a festival for the whole community, organised by and for schools. There were suggestions about possible dates (which would avoid clashing with other major Southwest events such as the Brunswick Show), venues and 3

This definition of sustainability is accepted, notwithstanding the Brundtland Commission’s highly contested assumptions about the value and inevitability of development, taken to mean economic growth and expansion. 4 For example, the 2009 LivingSustainably: The Australian Government’s National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability (Department of the Environment Water Heritage and the Arts., 2009). 5 Sustainable September is a term which has been coined to capture a range of environmental and sustainable activities in the month of September to coincide with the beginning of spring.

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formats and also about the involvement of local Australian Sustainable School Initiative (AuSSI) 6 teachers. At the May meeting, there were similar discussions about dates and format although there was a firm decision to use ECU as the venue. There was a decision that this event be organised by teachers with some funding from the Transition ECU grant; that an application be made to Hotrock for additional funding; and that a teacher be appointed to begin organising the event. By June 2010 there was a Teacher Advisory Group to the Festival Organiser and a part-time Festival Organiser to liaise with schools and teachers. In July the formal proposal was put to Hotrock for additional funding and in September the position of Festival Organiser was taken over by Fran Steele (the research assistant to the Transition ECUSW project) as the demands of the position began to expand. REVIEWING THE EVENT The Festival was held at ECU on Sunday 31 October from 10am to 2pm. There were 26 stalls displaying primary and secondary students’ work, the work of government instrumentalities (eg. Water Corporation), non-government organisations (eg. South West Catchments Council), and small businesses (eg. Geographe Green). Two choirs performed (Bunbury Catholic College and Dallyelup Primary School); there were two dramatic performances (Bridgetown District High School and the Inseki no Kakera mime group from Japan 7), a lecture on organic farming and permaculture and a rolling exhibition of short films which had been produced by ECU education students documenting their sustainability education learning activities. There were several food stalls and some school stalls selling cold drinks. Approximately 300 people (exhibitors, performers and community members) attended the Festival over the four hours. The activities and programs were split across two sites on the campus: Building 6 and the Kurlbardi Court in the centre of the campus. From the perspective of the Festival Organiser, stall holders were mostly satisfied with the level of interest on the day, most set up on time, there were no mishaps and the overall organisation worked well. However, while the view of Transition Bunbury was that this first Sustainability Show and Tell Festival had been a success, there were elements of the organisation and planning which would need refining if the event was to be repeated. VENUE

The split between the two sites on the campus did not work. This was the view of the Festival Organiser and volunteers and it was also evident in the feedback on the questionnaires. For example:

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The AuSSI initiative is a partnership between the Australian federal and state/territory governments which provides practical support (through a coordinating framework) to schools and their communities to develop a whole-school approach to sustainability education. 7 The Inseki mime group is based in Setagaya which has a formal sister-city relationship with Bunbury. The group had planned to visit Bunbury in October 2010, approached ECU as a possible venue for their performance and so were included in the Festival program.

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Keep exhibitors within courtyard area – too spread out. Don’t split the show so much – have it all happen in the courtyard or adjacent building. The exhibitors and performers in Building 6 (ie. the Strong Angels charity providing Devonshire teas; short films of ECU student projects) were too isolated. This problem could have been dealt with by improved signage and regular public address announcements, but is probably best addressed in the future by keeping exhibitors and events closer together. VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers were pivotal to the success of the event. While there were sufficient volunteers (mainly ECU students), the coverage was uneven with many more available in the morning than the afternoon. This meant there was a shortage of people to pack up, clean up and put away tables and equipment in the afternoon. To redress this it is suggested that in the future, volunteers be allocated jobs beforehand, given times when they will be needed and a central, staffed volunteer post established. SET-UP

Stallholders generally arrived to commence at 10am, and a couple who arrived late discovered that their allocated display board had been utlised by others. It appears that some stall holders ignored instructions and requests in order to obtain better access to the attendees and this created some tension. In addition some stallholders’ cars were left in walkways or in areas not designated for parking. Therefore in relation to the set up, the following improvements could be made: • stallholders need to arrive earlier and be set up by 9.30; • no cars on the verges or in disability bays; • no cars driving onto the site after 9.30am; and • exhibitors need to understand the importance of staying in their allocated areas and only using the number of display boards they have requested. CATERING

There were three catering outlets supplying different kinds of food: Devonshire teas and sandwiches; barbecued sausages and rolls; and organic prepared food such as pies and rolls. Catering was generally of a high standard. However, for the number of people who attended, there was too much food and some of the catering stalls ended up with a surplus. The organic food was popular and its availability could be increased at a future event. It is suggested that in future, all food outlets be placed together and centrally. PERFORMANCES

The performances included school choirs, the Inseki no Kakera mime/drama, a school biodrama and some public lectures. While the performances were well received, the following improvements could be made: • performances are recommended to last no more than 30 minutes each; • leave good gaps between events to allow audience to mingle and eat; • encourage performers (eg. school groups) to come early and stay for the whole event; • assign a compere for each performance who also meets and greets the group; and • if funds permit, include some professional performance artists such as Junkadelic.

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REVIEWING THE ORGANISATION OF THE EVENT In order to progress the Festival, the Festival Organiser liaised with: • a Teacher Advisory Group (with 3-5 members), • Transition Bunbury (which was meeting every 3-4 weeks with the Festival a major agenda item), • research colleagues at ECU and • the administrative staff at ECU. The role of some people was to give advice and others had authority to allocate or approve resources or expenditure. The bulk of the work was undertaken in the eight weeks prior to the Festival and the lines of communication were complex. While this worked satisfactorily, it is recommended that for any future festival there needs to be a single authorised Coordinating Committee whose members can provide direction and support to the Festival Organiser. There is now a compendium of materials (including templates) developed by the Festival Organiser and available to organisers in the future. FESTIVAL ORGANISER’S ROLE

The Festival Organiser contributed many volunteer hours in preparation for the festival, over and above her paid hours. A review of the hours put into the project suggests that a minimum of 30 days work for a paid (or volunteer) Festival Organiser is required. The work would include: • liaison with a Festival Co-ordinating Committee, particularly representatives from the venue; • initial and ongoing contact with schools (principals as well as teachers), ECU and TAFE, commercial enterprises and community groups who may want to exhibit or participate; • putting together the program; • allocating bays/spaces for exhibitors; • recruiting, training and coordinating volunteers; • responding to queries from the public and exhibitors; and • managing the advertising strategy – flyers/posters, media, banners The exact number of hours required of a Festival Organiser would depend largely upon the venue. A venue which can provide signage, security, parking, trestles, chairs, display boards, electrical equipment and points, and arrangements for postage and printing will place significantly less demand on an organiser’s time. If the venue is unable to provide these things, then there is more work required of the Festival Organiser to liaise with the venue and obtain and pay for contractors (or to coordinate volunteers) to do this work. ADVERTISING

The advertising carried out resulted in participation by about 300 participants and exhibitors. The extent of advertising required depends on the size of the desired audience and also the advertising budget. For an anticipated audience of 300, the advertising was probably adequate. For a larger event, more extensive and different advertising would be required. Finalising the program earlier and being able to provide more details of the Festival would be an advantage in more effectively promoting the event. As noted in the survey responses to Q.2, most attendees heard about the Festival through school networks, word-of-mouth or ‘pass along’ emails. Few indicated they heard about the event from more than one source. 8

Other methods of advertising which were not used but could be considered in future, budget permitting, are: • advertisements on the local buses; • more colour newspaper advertisements; • use of social media to reach younger people; and • banners in strategic locations such as across Victoria St, at Hands Oval (on Blair St), at the entrances to the venue, at roundabouts, Estuary Drive and on access roads. FUNDING

The Hotrock funding for the Festival was very welcome, and was managed through the ECU accounting system as part of the grant for the Transition ECUSW research project. Funding for any future event needs to be considered in light of the following factors: • the amount needed; • the legal status of Festival partners (eg. school, community organisation, private trust) in terms of their capacity and mechanisms to attract, manage and acquit funds; • the legal status of Festival partners in terms of their capacity and mechanisms to charge fees for entrance, stall holders, endorsements and so on; and • sources of funding which might be available (eg. Hotrock, Lotterywest, industry grants, sponsorship, government grants). EXHIBITORS

Exhibitors were invited to participate on the basis of their commitment or willingness to commit to sustainability education. Discussion below addresses exhibitors categorised as schools, commercial enterprises, ECU staff and community organisations. SCHOOLS

A major rationale for the Festival was to showcase the work of school children and to involve teachers and pre-service teachers. However, the links with some of the schools did not work well. Overall there was insufficient lead-in time for the Festival and a switch from an initial organiser to another meant that some of the initial school contacts had to be re-established. It was learned that school exhibitors need to be contacted several times to see how they are progressing with their plans as well as one week before the Festival to confirm final arrangements. Sometimes the people who were the nominated contact within a school were not the ones who attended on the day and so they had not received the necessary information. In some cases, teacher requirements (for equipment or space) seemed to change as the Festival drew closer and the organisers weren’t always clear about the actual requirements of particular schools for their display or performance. Links with other groups were easier to maintain because there was usually just one possible contact person (such as the proprietor of a small business or the project officer from a government department).

COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES

There was some uncertainty in the planning phase about the inclusion of commercial enterprises. The original plan for the Festival had provision for relevant businesses to

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participate (such as solar energy firms, water-wise and permaculture consultants) but this aspect of the plan had not been well developed because the main focus was schools. However, some businesses were keen to participate to gain exposure and some were still contacting the Festival Organiser the day before the Festival asking to be included. Therefore in future, the Festival planning will need to develop: • guidelines about which products and how many businesses can be included; • a policy on whether or not businesses should pay to exhibit; • a clear, well advertised deadline for exhibitors; and • a method for allocating space for businesses which is transparent as different locations give different levels of exposure. EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY STAFF

After the event, some ECU staff (academic and general staff) expressed their disappointment that they had not been aware enough of the Festival to know how to be involved. There are seven teaching programs on the ECU Bunbury campus: Business; Computing; Creative Industries: Education; Nursing; Social Work and Surf Science. Staff and students from the Education and Social Work programs were the ones most likely to be involved in the event as the principal researchers from the Transition ECUSW project taught in these programs. Any future festival planning will need to consider how best to involve more members of the stakeholder group which hosts the Festival, whether that is ECU or some other organisation (eg. local government, another educational institution). COMMUNITY GROUPS AND ASSOCIATIONS

The West Australian State Sustainability Strategy from 2003 (Hope for the Future) identified the building of equity and diversity as an important element of sustainable communities. Just as biodiversity is important for the natural social system to survive and flourish, so social diversity (which encourages civic engagement by people of all classes, ethnicities, genders, ages and abilities) is seen as a strengthening element for a sustainable community and as a counter to a social monoculture. The South West is a socially diverse region, and there are a range of groups and associations which may be interested in participating in a sustainability festival to showcase their work and/or participate as part of a broader transition to sustainability agenda. Throughout 2009 and 2010, ECU and Transition Bunbury held a public lecture series on topics related to sustainability transition, involving as wide a group of interests as possible. For example, the public lecture on the topic of peak oil was co-hosted with a local association of engineers. This, or other professional groups, may be interested in attending a Festival in the future to showcase their commitment to sustainability or even to recruit young people to the profession. Thus there is scope to involve a range of other community groups, organisations or associations in the Festival but some work would need to be done to identify which groups might be interested and relevant, how to approach them and how to encourage them to participate.

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THE FESTIVAL IMPACT The following discussion of the Festival’s impact summarises the results from the survey of participants in the context of sustainability education and community development. This discussion is intended to cast some light on how organisers in the future might think about the purpose and efficacy of a sustainability festival. Issues to do with the practicalities of governance and organisation (that is, event management) have been addressed in the previous section. SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION While the initial motivation for the Festival was to give schools an opportunity to showcase sustainability education activities (to students, teachers, pre-service teachers and the wider community), commercial enterprises and community organisations were also included to contribute to the sustainability-learning environment and to give them an opportunity to showcase products and activities as part of a broader sustainability education agenda. The main difference between the purpose of this event and that of the Perth Sun Fair was the Festival’s focus on showcasing the activities of school students. 8 Appendix C sets out the collated data from the questionnaires which were administered to seventy people (31 exhibitors and 39 visitors) and the results suggest that the event was worthwhile in terms of educating people about sustainability and encouraging them towards pro-environmental attitudes. For example: •

•

•

• •

When asked if they had learnt new things about sustainability, the majority of the survey respondents (46 of the 59 people who responded to Q.3) agreed that they had learnt new things, in particular about what is possible to enhance sustainability (such as recycling, gardening) and what is already being done locally. Over half of the respondents said they would definitely make lifestyle changes as a consequence of attending the Festival. While this was less than those who said they believed they could make their lifestyle more sustainable, the numbers are still substantial and suggest that many of the people attending the Festival were looking for (and obtained) new information and practical ideas, as well as encouragement to adopt or maintain their existing pro-environment behaviours. When asked to identify the most positive aspect of the Bunbury Festival, 31 of the 65 people who responded indicated that the event acted as a source of encouragement and gave them an opportunity to meet like-minded people, reinforcing the choices they have made in relation to sustainability. About the same number of people (28 of the 65 respondents) identified sharing ideas and information and obtaining new information and practical ideas as the most positive aspect of the Festival. When asked for their suggestions to improve the Festival in the future, 17 respondents suggested more workshops and hands-on activities. This indicates that an important aspect of the Festival’s sustainability education agenda may be as a ‘great re-skilling’

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Perth Sun Fair is an annual sustainability event held in the grounds of the University of Western Australia. It attracts approximately 15, 000 people each year.

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event in line with Step 8 of the Transition Town process (Hopkins, 2008, p. 172). 9 Thus, while the survey data is not extensive, it does suggest that the Festival was successful as a sustainability education activity. Mair and Laing (2010) investigated the Nelson Ecofest in New Zealand and their findings suggest that “these events attract individuals who are already significantly committed to sustainable behaviour” (p. 3). They noted that “[a]lthough expectation levels were high and attendees were broadly satisfied with the event, many attendees appear to be leading highly sustainable lifestyles and were using the event as a source of encouragement and positive feedback for their lifestyle choices” (p. 3). The results described above go some way to supporting this view; eighty percent of respondents agreed with the statement that they “already do some or many of the actions I have heard about here today”. However, a similar number indicated that they would still like to learn more. It is worth noting that one of the reasons for creating a schools ‘show and tell’ event, was that this would attract parents (to transport and/or support their children) and so bring attendees to the event who may not already have had a heightened environmental awareness. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Community is critical to how we live and how we feel about the future. Strong communities are more sustainable in themselves and are able to contribute to sustainability in general. (Government of Western Australia., 2003, p. 224) This quote appears in Hope for the Future, the Western Australian State Sustainability Strategy from 2003. Central to the section on community services and development is a discussion on the notion of social capital improvement, which it identified as a mechanism for achieving sustainability through “community-centred ideas including sustainable communities, community strength, resilient communities, community development, healthy communities and community capacity” (p. 224). The term social capital has been used in recent years to describe those interactions and relationships in communities which allow for communities to flourish. Cox (2002) defines social capital as "the quality of relationships within and between groups which generates civil interactions such as mutual respect, ability to resolve conflict, shared values, networks and trust, which in turn facilitate collective action" (p. 9). Cox further notes: Signs of social capital are an interest outside of immediate group, participation in working together, trust in people whether familiar or not, trust in institutions for change and a capacity to resolve conflict civilly. (2002, p. 10) Putnam (2000) and others make a distinction between bonding (exclusive) and bridging (inclusive) social capital. The former occurs in groups which aim for high levels of homogeneity and agreement; bridging social capital develops amongst heterogeneous groups and structures where difference and diversity is welcomed and encouraged. Bridging social 9

The Transition Town movement argues that many of the skills needed for a sustainable lifestyle have been lost in over-developed Western countries and that people will need to be ‘re-skilled’ in areas such as food production, salvaging items for reuse as well as repairing equipment and machinery.

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capital tends to be more outward-looking and helps people across different social divides (Putnam, 2000, p. 22). Bonding capital is good for undergirding specific reciprocity and mobilizing solidarity …. Bridging networks, by contrast, are better for linkage to external assets and for information diffusion. …. Moreover, bridging social capital can generate broader identities and reciprocity, whereas bonding social capital bolsters our narrower selves. …. Bonding social capital constitutes a kind of sociological superglue, whereas bridging social capital provides a sociological WD-40. (Putnam, 200, p. 22-23) Festivals act as a form of civic engagement where people voluntarily come together in public for some common purpose. A festival which focuses on encouraging sustainable lifestyles has the potential to build social capital in two ways: firstly through the process of organising the event; and secondly, through the event itself. As noted above, the Festival was organised through and around the auspices of Transition Bunbury, ECU staff, a teacher advisory group and Hotrock. Organising a festival can build community because it involves considerable individual and collective effort (Derrett, 2003, p. 53). The coming together of people from these networks and organisations created opportunities for the building of relationships of shared interest and trust, that is enhanced bonding social capital. The Festival event itself involved an even wider range of people (organisers, exhibitors, school children and teachers, volunteers and attendees) coming together on the day, working with competing expectations, interests and demands, to experience shared knowledge building and awareness of sustainability, that is, enhanced-bridging social capital. According to Mair and Laing (2010), there are demonstrated links “between staging events and increased levels of community wellbeing” (p. 1). Similarly, Ife and Tesoriero (2006) writing on community development, note that community events build spaces for dialogue and conviviality, which assist with relationship and community building. This tacit knowledge, knowing that shared experiences through work and socialising enhances the building of community, explains why governments host and often financially support community festivals and events such as the Australia Day Sky Show in Perth. PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR CHANGE The causal links between sustainability education, community development, proenvironmental attitudes and the commitment to pro-environmental behaviours and actions are complex and the subject of considerable research and theorising. While it is beyond the scope of this report to explore behaviour change in any depth, a brief survey of the literature identifies some key aspects of behaviour change theorising: • there is a gap between pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviour change (Amel, Manning, & Scott, 2009); • factors both within the individual and their external environment have an impact on behaviour and behaviour change (Maio et al. cited in Mair, 2010); and • from a social psychology perspective, factors which influence behavioural change are: personal habits; attitudes; the social norms around particular behaviours; agency (ie.

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the sense that you can achieve what you want to achieve); and emotional engagement (Darnton cited in Chauhan, Rama das, Haigh, & Rita, 2010). Fox (1992) suggests that people either recognise the environment’s instrumental value (that is, the extent to which the environment is important for human well-being) or its intrinsic value (that is, the extent to which life forms have value independently of the human species). Festival exhibitors and attendees are likely to hold views and values (conscious or unconscious) in relation to the environment across this anthropocentric – ecocentric continuum and this will affect what they hope to achieve by participating in a festival and how the festival experience may impact on their learning and subsequent uptake of proenvironmental behaviours. It makes sense for the event to be inclusive of the range of views and to present a wide variety of learning opportunities in order to maximise its effectiveness and to make the expenditure of time and money worthwhile. This is particularly the case given that the community building aspect of a festival has value in its own right for building sustainability.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The experiences of the Festival Organiser and organising committees have been brought together in this document to guide decision making about whether a similar event should be held in Bunbury (or other areas of the South West), and also about the various aspects of the event’s purpose, target group, program and management which would need to be considered. It is recommended that any future festival organising group undertake to do the following: • craft a statement of purpose for the event (eg. to educate to enhance proenvironmental behaviours and actions, to build community) and design an appropriate model to achieve it; • identify an auspicing body or network with access to funding (or the ability to manage funds) and risk cover; • locate a venue which is inviting, reasonably priced, accessible and appropriately linked to organisational considerations and sustainability ideals (eg. learning, diversity, community development and inclusion); • develop a program of exhibits, performances and activities which aim to achieve the stated purpose of the Festival. In particular, aim to increase the number of ‘hands on’ activities as suggested by some of the survey respondents, and in line with ‘reskilling’ activities identified by Hopkins (2008, p. 172); • build on the learning about events management from the 2010 event, in particular making use of the Festival Organiser’s notes as well as the templates and advertising materials which were used successfully; and • build on the learning about sustainability events from other communities and websites; for example, Sustainable Living Festival, http://festival.slf.org.au/ This review of the Sustainability Show and Tell Festival provides evidence that a festival of this kind has value as a strategy for enhancing pro-environmental behaviours through sustainability education and the building of community.

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LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A: Original proposal for a Sustainability Show and Tell Festival Appendix B: Festival Program of Events Appendix C: Collated data from the survey of Festival attendees

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APPENDIX A

‘Sustainability Show and Tell’: A Sustainability Education Festival Proposal A project being proposed by Transition Bunbury

Project Description ‘Sustainability Show and Tell’ is designed to celebrate the range of sustainability education projects occurring in ECU’s South West Campus, schools, other educational and sporting organizations and community groups in the SW of WA. The project aims to encourage schools and organisations to present or display their projects in a format of their choosing (short film, show and tell, drama, display, presentation, speech, or other media). All parents of the students will be encouraged to attend and celebrate their children’s participation, as well as members of the community. We plan for the festival to provide useful information to a broad section of the community, generating awareness, optimism and a ‘can do’ approach to the whole community. Essentially, we are anticipating that the festival will unleash a spirit of transition to sustainability across the community, through promoting a networked approach to link people, organisations and sustainability tools and information. In addition to the school projects, organizations currently involved in sustainability education and promotion will be invited to provide practical advice and tips in sustainability for schools and community groups. Examples include: • Waste Wise • Solar water heating • Solar energy, solar cooking • Sustainable gardening • Biodiversity ( year of biodiversity) • Water quality • Environmental audits • Permaculture  Hotrocks; Millennium Kids, Environmental Technology Centre (ETC); Murdoch University; Curtin University, and others would be approached with regard to offering small workshops inter -dispersing between school presentations.  Environmental drama presentation could be investigated e.g. ’theatre in a wheelbarrow’.  Services offered by AAEE, the Energy Challenge, Transition ECUSW and Transition Bunbury will be promoted.  Educational organizations /embedding sustainability in the curriculum will be displayed.  Bunbury Council – will be supporting the festival and we anticipate displays of their sustainability programs. We anticipate that the festival will be opened by the Mayor of Bunbury, Hon. David Smith. Venue: ECU, Bunbury When: Sunday 31st October, 2010 16

Project Outcomes 1. Celebration and recognition of sustainability in schools and organizations in the South West. 2. Raise awareness in the parental and broader community and demonstrate transferability of sustainable practice to the home. 3. Unleash a spirit of transition to sustainability across the wider educational and general community. 4. Increase awareness and adoption of sustainability practices to a wider community in the SW of WA.

Who will be involved in organising, overseeing and participating in the project? • ECU academic staff (Dr Sandra Wooltorton, Dr Marilyn Palmer and Dr Fran Steele), Facilities & Services Department, Faculty Management including Dean, Grounds Staff. • An advisory group of teachers (Dalyellup College, Bunbury Catholic College, Bunbury Primary, Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School, Amaroo Primary School, Kingston Primary School, Manea College subscribed to this point – others not yet invited.) • Project coordinator. • Members of ‘Transition Bunbury’. • University staff and students. • 84 student teachers and members of the Student Sustainability Group. • Schools and community groups. • Community groups and other universities. Budget Essentials – Budget is in formative stage, for advice by Hotrock. Employment of coordinator Marketing, advertising and promotional material Costs of Sunday staff @ECU

16 weeks @12 hours/week

$540 x 16

Extra Security guard Ambulance IT Staff member 2 x Facilities & Services staff

$400 $500 $400 $800 $400

$8640 $1000

$2500

$12140 ECU Contribution (In Kind)

University staff involvement (Wooltorton & Palmer), offices, phone and all facilities for coordinator, hire of grounds, on-duty staff, hire of equipment.

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Budget Creative Ideas Environmental Theatre ABC Gardening Australia teacher: Josh Byrne Music such as Junkadelic

$1000 $1000 $1000 $15,140

TRANSITION BUNBURY (www.transitionbunbury.org.au) is an expanding alliance of organisations, schools, South West Regional College of TAFE and Edith Cowan University lecturers and students. It is a component of the Transition to Sustainability: ECU South West project, funded by Hotrock and ECU. Transition Bunbury is linked to the international Transition Network (http://www.transitionnetwork.org/). Our aim is to create an effective network in Bunbury to bring about and celebrate social change for a sustainable future. Specifically, we intend to provide know-how and showcase small and large examples of transition projects, to strengthen the environmental movement that is now sweeping the South West. A transition initiative is a community-based response to peak oil and climate change. The word 'transition' means: 'in a process of change', and in the Transition Bunbury project we refer to change that increases local capacity to improve our environment through reducing our energy and water consumption; by improving our natural places; and by promoting the benefits of eating locally grown food.

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APPENDIX B

Sustainability Show & Tell Festival Sunday October 31, Edith Cowan University Bunbury Program of Events Time 10.00am

Event Opening Ceremony Mr Shane Doherty and Mr Richard Swan “Life” Inseki no Kakera A message for a beautiful earth Perup Survivors, the Biodrama of Life Bridgetown High School

Location Building 5 Courtyard

12.00

Bunbury Catholic College Concert Choir

1.00 pm

The Sustainable Table...permaculture on your plate Bee Winfield, organic farmer and sustainable food expert Dalyellup College Junior Choir Rap for the earth

Building 6 Lecture Theatre 1 Building 6 Lecture Theatre 1

10.30 am 11.30am

1.30 pm

Building 6 Lecture Theatre 1 Building 5 Courtyard

Building 5 Courtyard

Also showing in Building 6: • •

Films of ECU student community sustainability projects Artworks by ECU students constructed with recycled materials

Exhibitors 10 schools showcasing projects as well as: Renewable energy- Above Water Tri-nature products Felting South West Environment Centre Tangaroa Blue Ocean Care Society EcoEducation Permaculture (Pierre Marx)

Courtyard Sausage Sizzle Bee Winfield Organic Food Drinks, Manea College

ECU Green South West Catchments Council (Coastal) Interactive environmental awareness Waterless Organic Toilets Water Corporation Energy Challenge Solar Shop

Food

Building 6 Devonshire Teas, Strong Angels

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APPENDIX C

SUSTAINABILITY SHOW AND TELL, OCTOBER 2010 COLLATED DATA FROM QUESTIONNAIRES n - 70

1. What category best describes your attendance here today? Exhibitors: n = 31 School/university Community (govt, business & ngo)

17 14

Visitors: n = 39 School teachers

4

School students

3

University students Community members

12 20

Total

70

2.

How did you hear about the Festival?

School or university Australind SHS Glen Huon Fairview Dardanup Dalyellup Amaroo PS Bunbury Catholic College Bunbury CGS Edith Cowan University Sub-total through schools/uni Local paper Radio Posters, eg Quays Word of mouth/shared email Total

1 3 3 1 5 1 1 1 10 26 8 3 1 35 73

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3. Outputs from attendance at Sustainability Show and Tell: Ranking on a scale of 1-5 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree)

I have learnt new things about sustainability from being here today In particular, I have learnt:

Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

15

31

11

2

0

• • • • •

I believe I can make my lifestyle more sustainable I will definitely make changes to my lifestyle as a consequence of today In particular, I plan to [act in relation to]:

• • • • • • •

I already do some or many of the actions I have heard about here today In particular, the things I already do are [positive • things in relation to]: • • • • • • I don’t think I will change my day to day life I would like to learn more about sustainability In particularly, I would like to learn about:

• • • • • • • •

What is possible (eg. recycling, solar energy, composting, housing, gardening ) (21) What is being done locally (5) Ecological awareness (littering, overfishing) (3) Managing personal responsibility (5) Education for sustainability (2) 34

19

5

0

0

13

24

18

2

0

Food production (16) Recycling/waste mgt (9) Energy production & use (8) Com development (6) Water (3) Transport (2) Natural medicine (1) 24 25 8 1

2

Food production (37) Energy production & use (30) Recycling/waste mgt (19) Water (14) Com development (1) Transport (3) Natural habitation restoration (3) 2 3 13 19 20 21 24 10 0 0 Food production (8) Social & financial sustainability (8) Energy production & use (7) Recycling/waste mgt (4) Water (3) Sustainable housing (3) New technologies (2) Natural habitation restoration (1)

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4.

What has been the most positive aspect of the Show and Tell for you?

The opportunity to see what others (esp schools) are doing & the chance to share ideas and information. Information and practical ideas Networking and meeting up with like minded others Encouraging to see that people are interested in sustainability Diversity Performances / entertainment Chance to promote my organisation

5.

16

15 14 14 3 2 1

If we hold another festival in the future, what are your suggestions for improvement?

More workshops and hands on things to do Improved advertising Improved signage Making sustainability mainstream

17 16 9 4

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REFERENCES Amel, E., Manning, C., & Scott, B. (2009). Mindfulness and sustainable behavior: Pondering attention and awareness as means for increasing green bBehavior. Ecopsychology., 1(1), 14-25. Chauhan, S., Rama das, S., Haigh, M., & Rita, N. (2010). Awareness vs Intentionality: Exploring education for sustainable development in a British Hindu community. Sustainable Development. Cox, E. (2002). The social audit cookbook: Recipes for auditing the way we connect: Lance Reichstein Foundation. Department of the Environment Water Heritage and the Arts. (2009). Living sustainably: The Australian Government's national action plan for education for sustainability. Retrieved. from http://www.environment.gov.au/education/publications/pubs/national-action-plan.pdf. Derrett, R. (2003). Making sense of how festivals demonstrate a community's sense of place. Event Management, 8, 49-58. Fox, W. (1992). New philosophical directions in environmental decision-making. In P. Hay & R. Eckersley (Eds.), Ecopolitical theory: Essays from Australia (pp. 1020). Hobart: University of Tasmania. Government of Western Australia. (2003). Hope for the future: The Western Australian State Sustainability Stretegy. Retrieved. from. Hopkins, R. (2008). The transition handbook: Creating local sustainable communities beyond oil dependency. Totnes, Devon: Green Books Ltd. Ife, J., & Tesoriero, F. (2006). Community development: Community based alternatives in an age of globalism (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia. Kunstler, J. H. (2005). The long emergency: Grove/Atlantic, Inc. Mair, J. (2011). Towards a research agenda for environmentally sustainable events. Paper presented at the 7th Symposium of Psychology of Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure and 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Tourism Management, 24-26 May, . from http://iscthlr.turismo.wu-wien.ac.at/files/papers/p12_fullpaper.pdf Mair, J., & Laing, J. (2010). Examining the role of green events as a catalyst for behaviour change. . Paper presented at the New Zealand Tourism and Hospitality Research Conference, 24-26 November. Mikkola, M., & Roos, G. (2010). Tracing food education for sustainable development in iPOPY countries: Recommendations for learning about sustainability and organic food within educational contexts. Paper presented at the CORE Organic Project. Organic food for youth in public settings: Potentials and Challenges. Preliminary recommnendations from a European study. Purdue, D., Durrschmidt, J., Jowers, P., & O'Doherty, R. (1997). DIY culture and extended milieux: LETS, beggie boxes and festivals. The Sociological Review, 645-667. Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster. Wooltorton, S., Palmer, M., Goodwin, K., & Paine, D. (2010). A process for transition to sustainability: Beginning. The social educator, 28(2), 20-27. Wooltorton, S., Palmer, M., & Steele, F. (2011). A process for transition to sustainability: Implementation. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 27(1), 160-174. World Commission on Environment and Development. (1990). Our common future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Sustainability Show and Tell would not have been possible without the financial support of Hotrock and the advice and guidance of Richard Swan from Hotrock in particular. Similarly, the event would not have been possible if ECU had not agreed to be the host venue and to have provided administrative infrastructure. The organisers of the Festival also acknowledge the contribution of all of the exhibitors and performers who donated their time and expertise to the event. Finally, special thanks is extended to Graham Parton, Jessica Csillag, Gemma Garvin, Theresah Ndawana, Samantha White, Jenny Clapp and Cherie Brown for their assistance with the collection and analysis of the survey data. Any questions, comments or criticisms about this review should be directed to the authors of this report at Edith Cowan University, Bunbury campus, in particular Dr Marilyn Palmer whose contact details are: Edith Cowan University, Robertson Drive, Bunbury, WA, 6230. Email: [email protected]

RESEARCHERS’ NOTES MARILYN PALMER is a social worker who teaches in the social work program at Edith Cowan University on the Bunbury Campus. She completed her doctorate in 2005, researching informal, community-based responses to domestic violence. Her doctoral research was premised on the idea that contemporary state supported responses to domestic violence are unsustainable given the precarious nature of Western economies. Thus, if the state abrogates its responsibilities to respond to domestic violence, what informal responses are possible and effective? Marilyn teaches in the areas of sociology, gender and community development. Her other research interests are education for sustainability and emergency response and recovery. FRAN STEELE trained in biochemistry, working with CSIRO for ten years before becoming a science teacher in NSW schools. She then moved into research in science education and science teacher education, investigating the teaching of genetic technologies, boys education and constructivist approaches to learning. Her PhD research examined the creation of knowledge networks in secondary schools. Recently she has authored a report for the Australian Research Institute for Education for Sustainability relating to mainstreaming Education for Sustainability in pre-service teacher education. SANDRA WOOLTORTON is Associate Professor of Education at Edith Cowan University’s Bunbury Campus, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate students in social science education, Indigenous education and a range of pedagogy units. Her background is in cultural studies, geography and education, and she taught in the Kimberley, Pilbara and Northern Territory before becoming a teacher educator. She is an active member of the Australian Association for Environmental Education, is on the editorial board of the Australian Journal of Environmental Education and is the author of a number of articles and chapters on sustainability education, ecological literacy and placebased learning. Sandra leads several sustainability education projects in Edith Cowan University and in her local community; is currently writing a cultural geography of her local estuary and is also involved with an ARC-funded project investigating sustainable environmental management in small businesses.

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